Budding Romance: Part I
by DarkJason
Summary: It's been nearly 5 years since Ichigo lost his powers, now we get to see what's life like with the once former-Substitute Soul Reaper/Hero of the Winter War. Lots of laughs to show up! Part 1 of the The Budding Romance Series


**Budding Romance: Part I**

This story belongs to the properties of Bleach and its creators. I don't own anything that relates to them.

Hey guys, Dark Jason back in the making. I didn't think that I would be able to get back into writing again. But I guess that's to be expected when life decides to distract you in every possible way. Aside from that, the stories are going to be brand spanking new and I have been really ecstatic on writing like this for a good while. To tell you the truth, I've been meaning to go back into writing once I've finished reading the Bleach chapters from when he loses his powers, and honestly, I'm glad Aizen's god-complex is over and done with…for now. But don't worry, folks, you won't see anything like in this story, unless I warn you firsthand.

During the months of being on , I've read many stories. Ones that kept me in tune to the plot, others that made me laugh until my sides got sore, those that had an emotional effect, and other stories that really didn't fit with the generalization of the story itself. As a writer and fellow author on , I believe it's my job to not only please the readers and fellow reviewers with my work, but to also give them a good time. Keep in mind that the reason I love FF is because I love reading…good stories.

If anything, I apologize for not being active as a writer on this site, my reasons because, I have a life, I did go to work every 6 hours from the morning to the later part of the afternoon, and I love to just kick back and relax after a hard day's work, you get my drift? But in any given case, I'm back, my inspiration is going, though I'm lazy sometimes with the motivation, but when I do get things taken care of, it gets taken care of. So I promise you, the readers and reviewers, that I'll do my very best to make this story something that all of you can enjoy, and as note of info, I'll do my best to at least update every 3 days, if not a week at the most.

If you guys see me slacking on my updates, please don't hesitate to tell me in a PM or in a review to update my story, but whatever you do, do not curse or give vulgar language telling me to update because I WILL not respond to reviewers like them. For those that aren't in that category, you know who I'm talking about. To those that are still waiting for me to put out a fic, thanks for waiting, and I promise to give you the best of my abilities as a FF writer. SO…without any further adieu, it's time that I give you the summary of my story! Let's get it!

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What would happen if one were to imagine that you woke up one morning, a girl came into your room in a black outfit with a sword in her hands, and told you that she was a special type of spirit that sent departed spirits to the afterlife, would you go crazy? Apparently so, even for this 20 year old boy, he still believes that what he went through, couldn't even describe itself to be called reality, however, with the foreign feeling of having no powers for the first time in his life after the major battle with Aizen, Ichigo Kurosaki still couldn't believe that after everything that he went through, going as far as to regain his powers faster than any known Soul Reaper, becoming the youngest person to attain a Soul Reaper's ultimate power, learning how to harness the power of his Hollowfication abilities and even surpassing that of the Visoreds, and ultimately, transcending to a higher plane that even the likes of Aizen didn't reach, the woman that owed him his life didn't show up to the world of the living for nearly 5 years, and since then, he has learned to adapt to his normal life as if he never had anything happened to him or his friends.

"Well, it's been a long four and a half years, but feels like it happened just yesterday. Hell, try telling that to myself in the mirror after what I been through." Ichigo half-asleep, states with his trademark scowl on his face as begins to prepare for a day off at the current university that resides in is hometown, but not before assaulted by the one person who pushed him to his utmost limits to stop Aizen once and for all in the form of…

"GOOD MORNING, ICHIGO!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Isshin Kurosaki.

Ichigo barely dodges the flaming kick that was obviously meant for him, but sadly, the bed that he once slept on, has met its fate at the hands…er…foot of the overly energetic fun loving father, coupled with Ichigo's irritable crankiness that goes when one gets up early in the morning.

"Dad!"

"Just making sure that you still got your reflexes, my boy!"

"The hell! Do you have any idea what would have happened if you connected with that? And look what you did to my bed! What do you have to say for yourself?"

With a goofy smile on his face, he utters, "Ichigo, one must never be down about himself, even in the wee morning hours of the day!"

And with that said, Ichigo returns the smile and says, "Hey, dad? I don't know if you noticed or not, but the ground is looking to be reacquainted with you."

Isshin pales, "Now son, let's not get too hasty!"

"Aww, what's the problem? Afraid to kiss and make up? Well dad, meet the dirt, and the ground, meet my dear old, dad!"

I TAUGHT YOU WELL MY…

He couldn't finish that sentence as his face and body was imprinted a foot into the concrete below. And with a strained grunt he finishes his sentence before collapsing for a few minutes.

"Boy…unhhhhhhhh.

With his father outside in the concrete, and the rest of the day to go through, Ichigo greets his adolescent twin sisters, Karin and Yuzu.

"Good morning, Karin. Good morning, Yuzu."

"Morning, Ichigo"

"Good morning, Ichigo", Yuzu says with a smile reminiscent of their late mother.

With the greets said and over, Ichigo proceeds to fix himself some cereal, with some good old fashioned orange juice, (I know that is name in Japanese is Strawberry ) that is until Karin decides to break the monetary silence

"So Ichigo, when are we going to meet this new mystery girl of yours?" Karin questions with a nonchalant look on her face.

Ichigo abruptly spits out his cereal and begins coughing and choking on his once was supposed to be a balanced breakfast.

"What?"

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Yuzu asks with concern on her face as she goes to Ichigo to relieve Ichigo's sudden surprise and coughing.

Yuzu slightly scolds Karin for bringing an irrelevant question in the middle of breakfast.

"Karin that was uncalled for." But before Karin could respond back and Yuzu reminding Karin not to do things like that in the morning, Ichigo calmly explains.

"It's fine Yuzu. But really, Karin, could you at least have waited?"

Karin replies with her usual look on her face, "Why not? You said it yourself that you wanted us to meet her whenever we had free time. And it's always after you get back from your classes."

And with the kind of acting Rukia would be proud of, she imitates Ichigo saying this, "I really wouldn't like anything more than for you to come over and meet my family. Oh, and don't worry about my dad, he's always like that." Ending with a smirk that always pissed off Ichigo, and Yuzu quietly trying to hold in her laughter at Karin's dead on attempt to imitate Ichigo's voice and mannerisms, a blush blemishes Ichigo's face as he attempts to save face, but fails miserably.

"C-c-come on! Why would you have to make fun of me at a time like this?"

"So I can see that priceless look on your face when you spit out your cereal." Karin says then starts to laugh.

(Karin laughs)

"Maybe you can tell her how much you love her, by explaining how your breakfast went today!" Karin continues to laugh until her sides are in complete agony, but Yuzu sends a sympathetic look to Ichigo saying that she approves of the person that Ichigo's dating and knows that she's really looking forward to meeting her real soon.

"Thanks Yuzu. Now I can see why she's my favorite." Ichigo grins at Karin while the latter feigns sadness. "Oh, Ichigo, why must you hurt me so?"

Ichigo grins and says, "Yeah, yeah, I know. You love me too. Now if you'll excuse me, I got a lady to go meet. See you guys later.

"Bye, Ichigo! I'll see you when you get back home!"

"What she said, Ichigo! Don't wait up for too long!"

"Karin!" Yuzu lightly reprimands.

"What?"

"At least wait until Ichigo's gone," Yuzu whispers.

"I heard that!" Ichigo yells. 'At least in their way, they will definitely like this girl that I'm with.' Ichigo thinks to himself. At least he clearly knows that they were teasing him for the fun of it and not in a way that it would seem as if he of all people, as anti-social as he was in the past before and after when he received his Soul Reaper powers, that Ichigo Kurosaki couldn't date a woman that ever went out with him. Believe it or don't, but the 6'2 ½ Kurosaki actually brought up the courage to ask one of his female companions on a date. Which one? How about, the one that was kidnapped and forced into Hueco Mundo in an effort to protect her friends, including the man that she loved that was going to rescue her. That lovely young lady is Orihime Inoue.

Needless to say, Ichigo would have been on the receiving end of Tatsuki's legendary wrath had it not been for Orhime stating that Ichigo was the one who asked her out while she flat out fainted on her feet in the high school classroom, plus, this is what the raven-haired karate champion wanted all along, just several months after he lost his powers as a Soul Reaper. During the first 2 ½ years of dating, Orihime had grown into such a beautiful woman, her already ample bust increased by a fair amount, not enough to rival Rangiku's oversized bust, but enough to give the likes of Yoruichi Shihoin a run for her money, and then some, fuller hip definition, fuller lips, and even as much as growing out her locks. Ichigo would admit that the relationship that he had with Orihime was nothing short of wonderful during his first few years of being boyfriend and girlfriend, but as with the complications of a relationship, he decided to break it off after Ichigo came to a startling realization about what he understands about his level of trust in a woman and in himself.

To quote Ichigo, he said, "Orihime Inoue, you are my girlfriend, my best friend, and I love you with all my heart, and I would do anything to insure that you are never harmed in any way, we've been through everything together, to when we first rescued Rukia, and even when I rescued you from Aizen, and I want us to be just that, best friends."

Orihime felt her heart flutter and was surprised that Ichigo would go as far as to saying that he loved her with all his heart but she was saddened that the man that she fell in love with would say something like this, however as a strong woman who endured a painful experience back in Hueco Mundo, she held back her tears to allow the man in her life to finish speaking to her.

"I know that you've had a crush on me since we've come back from Soul Society, and I'll admit that I was foolish to think that I didn't hold any feelings for you, but you showed a side of me that I never had before, and because of that, you've made feel more at ease with myself and I'm grateful that we've got the chance to experience a relationship together. But…despite that, I don't want to ruin our friendship, and I know that you feel the same way I do. Please…Orihime, let me be your best friend that can still love you for you."

If any of you thought that Orihime would be crying in her sleep because Ichigo broke up with her, guess again. After what Ichigo had said to her, she began to explain her reasons for getting with him in the first place, even going as far as explaining that she was the one in the room that she could say goodbye to when the 4th Espada Ulquiorra Cifer took her to Las Noches during her half a day remaining in the living realm, and the one who was responsible for nearly kissing him in his sleep.

That made Ichigo speechless, as he couldn't understand the amount of effort that Orihime had to go through to protect not only him but the rest of his friends, without missing a beat, Ichigo quickly gained his composure and allowed Orihime to finish. As it turns out, Orihime felt exactly how Ichigo felt, and was relieved that Ichigo still loved her, though not in the way she wanted, but she ended up hugging Ichigo and kissing his cheek for being himself and showing how he truly felt as a friend to her.

As Ichigo said in during his meeting at Orihime's place, the two stayed as best friends, much to Tatsuki's light disappointment. She at first thought Ichigo would be a jerk for breaking up with her because he didn't like her back for any reason; however once she heard from her best friend from what transpired between the two, her opinion of Ichigo had changed. It was Ichigo's maturity as a man that made the difference in their growth of their friendship, and in the end, that's what it was all about, Orihime being truly happy, and was glad that Ichigo was the right person to do just that, even if he was an idiot back then, and even now.

With Ichigo, Orihime, and Tatsuki's relationship even stronger than ever, he now turns his attention to another lovely woman who happens to be one interesting enigma in his everyday life as he prepares to travel to the same place where he trained to control his powers as a Visored.

Ichigo silently speaks with a smile on his face walks down the Karakura streets to see his new girl, "Here I come, Lisa."

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Wow! And here you guys thought that I wouldn't come back! Lol Well, I apologize, really been on the roller coaster that we call life. All of us have it, and I can't help it. But honestly, I'm glad that I'm back and into writing nonetheless. My neck is sore, but it's so worth it! Lmao! Anyway, since we are back into the swing of things, I believe it's only fair that I explain what's going to be taking place in the coming days as well as in the coming times of me being on this site.

Within the month of March and April, I will be putting out new stories, stories that involve Ichigo, his friends, allies, enemies, rivals and all kinds of new material that has to do with the current Bleach anime/manga. And let me say this, Episode 309 of Bleach is the best episode hands down! It's been a long run, but I'm glad that it's coming to a close, oh wait, 10 more years of Bleach... Damn it Kubo! Lol! Well, with the (groans) filler in place, guess that means more FF for the rest of us!

And speaking of which, this story that I have out right now is going to be a 3 part series with one of my most favorite crack parings Ichigo Kurosaki and Lisa Yadomaru, or Ichi/Lisa with the story titled "The Budding Romance Series." What this particular series is referring to in terms of plot purposes is that, the continuing and brand new relationship with his female Visored companion, and how they ended up getting together even after Ichigo loses his powers in the 4 ½ year time skip. (Note that I'm not using the near 2 year skip that Kubo makes in the current manga).

Next on my list is to develop some other parings of my series of one-shots or two shots if I so desire. Have you guys ever seen the infamous Ichigo/Yoruichi/ paring, or perhaps an Ichigo/Rangiku paring? Or maybe, even a paring involving Ichigo/Sui-Fung/Soifon? Those are the kinds of paring that that I want to put out on this site.

As for my other stories like Strawberry & the Manga Reader, and many others thank you guys SO much for adding this to favorites list. It's over a year old, but I have over 10, 661 hits which I find as an accomplishment, but in truth I want to go higher, but I don't want to do it alone, so I want you guys to help me get there! By that, I don't mean, reviewing my story because it's sounds good, I want feedback, tell me what I'm doing wrong I promise to make it worthwhile in the end, but that don't mean for me to get on and write every day of the week, unless I feel like it! If anything, I want my goal on to become a better writer, and to have fun while doing it!


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